Fishing enthusiasts consistently face the problem of baits and lures becoming tangled in tackle boxes. Fishing hooks, lures, and various kinds of baits are often made with thin strips of plastic or metal that tend to intertwine with one another, hindering quick retrieval of one piece of equipment from the box. To alleviate this problem, some fishermen divide their tackle boxes into compartments that allow the fishermen to gather similar lures and hooks into a designated section of the container. Within each section of the container, however, lures and hooks still twist around each other and must be manually separated before use.
Previous tackle boxes and containers have been developed in efforts to alleviate the problem of tangled lures and hooks. U.S. Pat. No. 2,220,817 (Holmes, 1939) illustrates the use of grooved slots in a tackle container to separate individual hooks and lures. The Holmes tackle container incorporates a plurality of panels attached to the bottom of the container along a central line so that the panels open outwardly like a fan. Each panel has a series of slots extending vertically from the top edge of the panel into the body of the panel. Either a hook or any curved portion of a fishing lure may slide within one of the slots in the panel to suspend the lure from that slot. The panels therefore provide a multitude of slots to separate individual fishing lures.
Separating fishing lures via grooved slots in tackle container panels is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,820 (Suddeth, 1997). The Suddeth patent is designed to organize and hold fishing lures having treble hooks hanging from the underside of the lure. Suddeth provides multiple panels within the container that may be extended vertically from a horizontal position. When the panels are vertically extended, the hooks from the underside of a fishing lure slide into grooves in the panels. The panels are then returned to their horizontal position so that the body of the fishing lure rests on the groove with the hooks hanging underneath the panel. The treble hooks of each lure are separated from the hooks of other lures to prevent tangling. Suddeth also shows a panel in a tackle container having retainer bars from which the treble hooks of the lure may hang to suspend the lure alongside the panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,730 (Bunten, 1990) shows a tackle box with a plurality of deep storage drawers that slide within an enclosure. The drawers include attachment points from which lures and hooks may be suspended. Depending on the kind of lure, the lure may be positioned so that it is suspended from the top of one of the drawers in a vertical direction. Alternatively, the lure may lie flat in the bottom of a horizontal drawer. For lures that should hang vertically, the storage drawer includes an elastic retaining member supported within the top section of the drawer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,232 (Miles, 1993) also shows a tackle container with divided compartments in which lures and hooks may be organized. Each compartment within the Miles '232 patent incorporates a groove within one of the sidewalls of each compartment. A portion of a fishing lure, such as a wire neck or a thin hook, slides within the groove to hold the fishing lure in place within its compartment. The groove within the compartment sidewall may extend from the top of the sidewall to a midpoint toward the bottom of the container.
Other inventions in the art of tackle containers emphasize individual hooks and ways of preventing the hooks from becoming tangled. U.S. Pat. No. 3,133,374 (Benson, 1964) uses various upright hook holders to individually retain fishing hooks within a container. The Benson '374 patent provides a pair of vertical wire stems that allow a hook to be positioned between the stems. In operation, the Benson hook organizer supports the hook by looping the eye of a hook around one stem and attaching the curved, pointed end of the hook to an opposite stem. The stems of the Benson hook organizer are positioned with enough tension between the two to hold the hook horizontally across the base of the Benson tackle container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,760 (Garman, 2000) provides another mechanism for holding hooks and preventing tangling. The Garman hook organizer also allows easy retrieval of one hook without touching other hooks in the container. The Garman '760 patent shows an organizer in which fishhooks of various sizes may be removably attached between two parallel edges. The edges of the modular hook organizer include a sequence of notches into which the fishhook is pushed in a forced fit. In a typical embodiment of the Garman '760 patent, the shank of a fishhook is held within a pair of notches in two substantially parallel vertical walls of the hook organizer. When installed within the notches, the fishhook is elevated from the bottom of a horizontal portion of the hook organizer. The curved hook end of the fishhook is also snapped into a notch in the horizontal portion of the hook organizer. The Garman '760 patent, therefore, discloses a hook organizer that provides at least three contact points for a fishhook-two notches within vertical walls of the organizer and one notch within a horizontal floor. Each organizer in the Garman '760 patent may have connecting elements that allow the user to connect more than one organizer in a modular fashion.
Another example of tackle containers providing individualized holders for specialized baits and lures is U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,925 (Blackburn '925). The Blackburn '925 patent uses individual enclosures to hold each lure and is particularly useful for holding spinner baits. Each individual enclosure is an upright rectangular box with an extra cavity formed in the top of the box by a triangular attachment extending from the front wall of the enclosure. The triangular attachment includes a groove pointing downward toward the bottom of the box. A spinner bait fits within the enclosure with one segment of the spinner bait extending downward into the upright box as a second segment of the spinner bait fits across the triangular attachment at the top of the enclosure. The second segment of the spinner bait is compressed toward the segment in the box so that the second segment fits within the groove in the triangular attachment. The spinner bait is held within the enclosure by a force of compression between the two segments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,422 (Souza, 1981) discloses a tackle box with a pullout stacking tray structure in which the individual trays are connected to the walls of the container by pivoting links. The container includes vertically hanging attachment walls on the sides of the stack of trays. Each attachment wall includes a plurality of projecting screws from which fishing lures may hang. In one embodiment of the Souza '422 patent, three projecting screws are arranged in a triangle. A spinner bait lure may be balanced at the elbow between lure segments so that one segment is supported by a lower screw as the opposite segment rests on a screw directly across from the lower screw.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,582 (Wilkins, 1999) shows another vertically hanging attachment wall within a tackle container for securing spinner bait lures. The Wilkins '582 patent uses a screw that projects from one wall of the container to balance a spinner bait at the elbow between lure segments. The weight of a spinner bait lure is unequal on opposite sides due to different components attached to each segment. The weight difference on either side can possibly lead to the lure sliding around and falling off the projecting screw. The Wilkins '582 patent incorporates retaining walls on either side of the projecting screw to stop movement of the spinner bait lure and retain the lure in a convenient position.